With baseball season among us, the controversial topic of what pitcher had the best performance in the World Series is at the forefront of conversation.  Any time this topic is debated, three names come up. Madison Bumgarner, Randy Johnson, and Greg Maddux.

Many times pitchers have been spectacular throughout the season, but in the end they couldn’t hold it together. Clayton Kershaw has to be one of the best regular season pitchers, but in the World Series everything starts to break down piece by piece.

On the other hand, his rival, San Francisco Giant pitcher Madison Bumgarner is the exact opposite of Kershaw. When it comes to Bumgarner in the regular season he will do well, but still won’t be Cy Young worthy. In the postseason Madison Bumgarner becomes a monster; some will say he is arguably the best ever. In the 2014 World Series Madison Bumgarner finished the World Series allowing just one run over 21 innings, also adding 0.43 ERA.  That’s the lowest in a single World Series, according to MLB Stat of the Day. He capped off the title run with a great 5 inning relief in Game Seven, which helped the Giants capture the Commissioner’s Trophy.

Although Bumgarner’s stats seem amazing he actually isn’t the only one to accomplish this feat, a pitcher a few years before him was actually considered a World Series hero and it was Randy Johnson.

“The Big Unit,” as many called him was a beast in the World Series; he provided heavy support for the Arizona Diamondbacks to their first World Series victory in 2001 against the New York Yankees. In the beginning of the World Series his outings were dominating, striking out 11 in a 3-hit shutout in Game Two, pitching seven innings for the victory in Game 6 and then coming on in relief the following day to pick up the win in Game 7. His relief appearance in Game Seven, was arguably the best ever, Johnson stepped in as the new pitcher and racked up 16 strikeouts in 7 innings, setting the record for the most strikeouts in a relief appearance; Johnson shared the World Series Most Valuable Player Award.

The last pitcher is Braves legend Greg Maddux; according to Baseball Statistics in two games he played in the World Series, out of the 54 possible innings he could pitch; Maddux pitched 48 of those innings. Maddux was not a high velocity pitcher, but he had insane control and could place it anywhere he wanted. Even Hall of Famer Joe Morgan gave credit to the pitcher, “Greg Maddux could put a baseball through a lifesaver if you asked him!” Many called Maddux a magician because he could throw it by any hitter without using the speed many other pitchers used to dominant.

Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux have had remarkable performances in the World Series. However, my opinion can also be bias because I haven’t lived to watch Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux. I still think Madison Bumgarner was phenomenal in the playoffs and no one could touch him when it came down to the big moments. One word to describe Bumgarner’s performance is dominant. Bumgarner is the guy I will always want to be pitching in the World Series.